Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

I was watching an old (8 to 10 years probably) TV programme last night about internet start-ups, the bubble and the bust, that kind of thing. Jeff Bezos and Pierre Omidyar were interviewed about their original ideas, start-up, going public, basically edited to point out their different visions and in its way quite fascinating despite being so very out of date. I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember exactly, but Pierre said something along the lines of:-

"The whole point of eBay was to give the average ordinary person the tools needed to sell stuff to other ordinary average people, then leave them alone to get on with using those tools to suit themselves"

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

I was watching an old (8 to 10 years probably) TV programme last night about internet start-ups, the bubble and the bust, that kind of thing. Jeff Bezos and Pierre Omidyar were interviewed about their original ideas, start-up, going public, basically edited to point out their different visions and in its way quite fascinating despite being so very out of date. I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember exactly, but Pierre said something along the lines of:-

"The whole point of eBay was to give the average ordinary person the tools needed to sell stuff to other ordinary average people, then leave them alone to get on with using those tools to suit themselves"

Didn't quite turn out like that, did it??!!

As soon as eBay started getting really big, just leaving people to get on with was no longer a valid policy. Just taking the UK as an example, we have a vast amount of consumer legislation that sellers need to conform to.

There are many items that are legally prohibited or need special licences to sell. There is also the question of fakes and stolen good and members perpetrating frauds on other members.

Providing the tools sand stepping back was always a naive attitude. You would end up with an unregulated free for all. You need rules.

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

"The whole point of eBay was to give the average ordinary person the tools needed to sell stuff to other ordinary average people, then leave them alone to get on with using those tools to suit themselves"

Didn't quite turn out like that, did it??!!

In an ideal world that would work but because we don't live in an ideal world and have scammers on both sides of the fence ( buyers and sellers ) intervention is required.

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

strange he would say such a niave comment10 years ago - the world was pretty bad back then (probably not as bad as now) but bad enough to realise people are not honest on both sides and eventually common sense tells you - good things and ideas will get abused eventually - there is always someone out there ready to take advantage

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

True, the biggest isn't always the best, but what's the alternative? There are others out there but when eBay became a password, the others were either swallowed up whole, or gave up the ghost and shut up shop. EBay fees are going up and up, but as sellers, we're stuck between the Devil and the deep blue sea. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We might not like it, but there is nothingwe can do about it. If I carry out a one man protest about eBay charges, they'll just laugh in my face, because whether we like it or not, we're fodder. The onlypeople eBay pay any attention to is big business, so we've just got to knuckle under and carry on as we are.

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

Being Honest is a question of choice , just beacuas eothers are committing fraud , its no reason to do it .

I was impressed with Pierre Omydar and hs vision back then , and I am still impressed now

I do beleive if you trust people and take them at face value , you will be rewarded . though it sometimes goes wrong , thats all part of the swings and roundabouts .

ebay is all about whats left in the pot at the end of the year , dont bother to much with individual transactions , whethere they are loss making or not

You are going to have loss making transactions , ones where they time spent does not justify the end result , but at the end of the year you should have a healthy profit , if you dont , your doing something wrong ,. so change your business practises ,or your stock , or your chosen career , or all 3

;-)

I been 12 years on ebay and had 1000's of sales and I trust people more than ever now

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

I've always played a straight bat - never been any other way. Sales wise, I use myself as a rule of thumb. I put up items what I feel offer good value for money, and I never guild the lily, especially where quality/description comes in. I put things up at a price I'dbe happy to pay for, which is why I have repeat clients. If I don't think an item's worth the money, neither will my clients. I've a long way to go before retiring to Barbados, I'm only on the third rung because of eBay charges, but as I said, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Post Office chages are a big, big turnoff. That's why I'm so limited as to what I can buy or sell I also take my feedback VERYseriously. If people are dissatisfied they tell others, not you.

I've made mistakes - of course I have, with items ending up in a charity shop, but it's all part of the game. The biggest single mistake anybody can make is dipping into the payPal account when suddenly the car tax, mot and insurance all come in together. Do that, and you're back to square one. Big, BIG mistake. I'm only playing with small change at the moment, but within a year I hope to muscle in with the big boys, upping the ante substancially. Now, how much was that Lear Jet??

Re: Pierre Omidyar's vision of eBay

Thank you Papko. I'll download that and keep it aside for when my business expands. I'm not at that stage yet, but as the old adage goes: From little acorns grow mighty oaks.

A very knowledgable man was once asked how he'd acquired such a vast wealth of knowledge. He replied simply: "Because every third man I meet is a teacher." People laughed at him because they did not understand - we learnfrom one another.